NCJ Number
220167
Date Published
2007
Length
41 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines the historical and cultural roots of the Dutch tolerance toward behaviors that depart from mainstream morality and how this is manifest in regulatory mechanisms for drug use, prostitution, and euthanasia.
Abstract
The Netherlands has a long history of allowing and even promoting the coexistence of differing religious beliefs and practices. In historic periods of religious conflict and intolerance, the Netherlands was a safe haven for Jews and Protestants, and there were no outbreaks of witch hunting. This historic pattern of tolerance for differences has translated into a tolerance of various behaviors that depart from mainstream morality but which may require regulation to prevent their extreme and unacceptably harmful manifestations. The latter has been the case for drug use, prostitution, and euthanasia. The formal legal system does not punish these behaviors per se, but has established relevant regulatory systems for controlling certain behaviors within these domains, with sanctions specified for violations of these regulations. This approach stems from a policy of harm reduction rather than moral outrage. According to data presented in this chapter, this system of tolerant regulation has apparently not increased the prevalence of these behaviors to an unacceptable degree nor has it restrained legal action against criminal behaviors that are inherently severely harmful to individuals and society. There are some signs, however, of an erosion of tolerance toward religious groups that exercise an extreme form of intolerance within Dutch society, such as radical Muslim groups that use violence against perceived enemies of their religion. 9 tables and 58 references